Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works (Akebono Comics)
The''' Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works''' (赤塚不二夫全集) collection was a special imprint of tankobon by Akebono Publishing, released from 1968 to 1972 under their Akebono Comics line. It covered series outside of the larger works that were receiving their own "Complete Works" collections by the company at the time, and would in some cases be the only reprints that would exist for certain series. Overview After the success of Akebono's "Osomatsu-kun Complete Works" which began in January 1968, this collection would kick off in October of that year with the first volume of Nama-chan. There were 30 volumes in total that were put out over the years that the collection was being actively published. Though Akebono ceased this particular collection with the volumes that covered The Shinigami Death, they would still print other Akatsuka titles outside the line until the late 1970s. Each cover tends to feature an illustration either sourced from the frontispieces for a series, a remake of such, or an entirely new image specific to the collection. The back covers tend to feature a headshot icon of a representative character, though sometimes it may also not be directly related to the title. Titles Vols. 1-2: Nama-chan *Release Date: October 15, 1968 (volume 1), November 11, 1968 (volume 2) *Complete?: No *Cover Colors: Green (volume 1), Red-Violet (volume 2) *Extra Content: Essay "Remembering Nama-chan" (volume 1) *Character on Back Cover: Nama This release reprints some of the series, but there are cases where chapters are out of order or randomly disjointed. The later eBookJapan version would be based off of this, but would add the pilot "Nama-chan's Sunday" to the mix as well as Akatsuka's "Tokiwa-so Story" retrospective chronicling his time at the apartment and the creation of the series. The essay is not included in the Shogakukan DVD-ROM digitization or later versions sourcing the volumes. Vol.3: Ohana-chan *Release Date: December 9, 1968 *Complete?: No (for both the main feature and its extra content) *Cover Color: Light Green *Extra Content: 14 chapters of Oh Ma-chan, 8 chapters of Okazu-chan, Essay "Ohana-chan and Poverty" *Character on Back Cover: Ohana This book only covers 19 out of the 32 chapters that exist for the series, with its 1959 one-shots and the earliest chapters (as well as random later ones) skipped. The stories that are reprinted in the book tend to be out of order, or missing frontispieces. The essay is not included in the DVD-ROM edition. Vols. 4-7, 11, 12: Otasuke-kun *Release Dates: January 16, 1969 (volume 1), February 14, 1969 (volume 2), March 13, 1969 (volume 3), April 10, 1969 (volume 4), August 11, 1969 (volume 5), September 5, 1969 (volume 6) *Complete?: No *Cover Colors: Light Yellow (volume 1), Orange (volume 2), Teal (volume 3), Neon Red (volume 4), Light Blue (volume 5), Purple (volume 6) *Extra Content: 11 chapters of Boku Knows Best (volume 5), all of 2nd Generation President Ichiro-kun, 11 chapters of O-chan's Eleven Friends (volume 6), Essay "Home Drama Otasuke-kun" (volumes 1 and 5) *Character on Back Cover: Otasuke Some chapters of "Otasuke and Chika-chan" are included in the mix, though many chapters of the series itself (from its various runs) are out of order. Boku Knows Best and O-chan's Eleven Friends are also reprinted out of order, and are missing various frontispieces. As with other essays, both parts of "Home Drama Otasuke-kun" are absent in the DVD-ROM. Vols. 8, 17: Leave it to Chota * Release Dates: May 15, 1969 (volume 1), March 31, 1970 (volume 2) * Complete? No * Cover Colors: Yellow (volume 1), Hot Pink (volume 2) * Character on Back Cover: Chota This release is heavily disjointed, starting with the October 1964 chapter "I'm Happy to Work" in volume 1 while the true start to the series ("Handyman Store Starting Business") is used to start volume 2. Vols.9-10: Songo-kun * Release Dates: June 10, 1969 (volume 1), July 15, 1969 (volume 2) * Complete?: * Cover Colors: Brown (volume 1), Blue (volume 2) * Character on Back Cover: Songo The individual frontispieces and titles for early chapters in vol.1 have been stripped away, to have Songo's adventures be one long continuous story. However, there is less of this treatment in vol.2. Vol. 13: Kyuhei and Sister * Release Date: October 6, 1969 * Complete?: Yes in the case of the main feature, but there are missing frontispieces or content for the extra features * Cover Color: Light Green * Extra Content: All three chapters of Yuki's Blue Eyes, along with the one-shots Mama Knows the Whole Story After All and Gathered in the Living Room, and essay "Me and Story Manga". * Character on Back Cover: Kyuhei This reprinted version of Yuki's Blue Eyes lacks the frontispieces for chapters 2 and 3, in order to print the story as one continuous feature. A page is also missing from Gathered in the Living Room, which introduces the characters and explains their living situation. "Me and Story Manga" is not in the DVD-ROM edition. Vol.14: Kibimama-chan * Release Date: November 20, 1969 * Complete?: Yes * Cover Color: Light Yellow * Extra Content: The Replacement Housekeeper (the prototype one-shot that would evolve into this series), and the essay "Me and Movies". * Character on Back Cover: Kimiko The essay, going over Akatsuka's film inspirations for series, is absent in the DVD-ROM. Vol. 15: The Mean Family * Release Date: January 22, 1970 * Complete?: Somewhat (missing frontispieces for some stories including the main feature) * Cover Color: Orange * Extra Content: The Meddling Family, The Thriller Family, The Thief Family, The 7 Habit Family, The Disorderly Family, The Crybaby Family, The Hard Work Family, and The Monster Family * Character on Back Cover: Ijiko The frontispieces of the Mean Family chapters after the first one are stripped out to convert into a continuous story, along with the Meddling Family missing all of its original frontispieces (as well as the opening panels to the first chapter). Thriller Family is also missing the frontispiece to its second chapter. This volume is the basis for all later reprints, including the digital edition on eBookJapan. Vol.16: Jajako-chan * Release Date: February 16, 1970 * Complete?: No * Cover Color: Light Blue * Extra Content: Bokeko's Summer Vacation Diary * Character on Back Cover: Jajako Various chapters of the series are missing, along with many being ordered incorrectly. Vol.18: Hennako-chan * Release Date: April 30, 1970 * Complete?: No * Cover Color: Green * Extra Content: St. Harenchi Girls' School * Character on Back Cover: Hennako Vol.19: Good Morning with Mi-tan * Release Date: May 30, 1970 * Complete?: Yes in the case of Mi-tan, but not its extra content * Cover Color: Brown * Extra Content: 8 chapters of Kikanpo Gen-chan * Character on Back Cover: Mi-tan Vol.20: Mojamoja oji-chan * Release Date: July 20, 1970 * Complete?: Yes, but not its extra content * Cover Color: Blue * Extra Content: 6 chapters of Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything, re-titled as "$-chan and Chibita" * Character on Back Cover: Mojamoja-ojichan Vol.21: One Man among Women/One Woman among Men * Release Date: August 25, 1970 * Complete?: Yes * Cover Color: Light Blue * Extra Content: 4 chapters of Dekunobo of the Wilderness, and the one-shots "Apache-kun's Great Rampage", "What's Going On?", Urashima-kun", "Odenkushinosuke" (1968 edition), "Dama-chan" (re-titled reprint of "Damaso-kun"), "Chankichi-kun", "Yo-Yo Kapo-kun", and "The Little Kid Gang" * Character on Back Cover: Hanako ("One Woman among Men") Vol.22: New Edition World Masterpiece Comics/Happy-chan * Release Date: September 30, 1970 * Complete?: Somewhat in the case of the Masterpiece series (as they are missing some original frontispieces), No in the case of Happy-chan as it is missing a chapter * Cover Color: Indigo * Extra Content: White Kappogi, "Nonko-chan", and "Sacchan" (1959 edition) * Character on Back Cover: Ichiro (unrelated to any of the features) Vols.23-24: Matsuge-chan * Release Dates: October 30, 1970 (volume 1), December 25, 1970 (volume 2) * Complete?: No * Cover Colors: Light Green (volume 1), Yellow (volume 2) * Extra Content: "When the Sun Sets in the Wilderness", "Papa and Mami-chan", "Mimi and Iko-chan" * Character on Back Cover: Matsuge As with other releases of older Akatsuka titles at the time, this series is severely disjointed and is missing various chapters. In this case, it is said that one circumstance was that Akatsuka did not have many of the original manuscripts for the series in his possession and that Akita Shoten may have lost or misplaced them. Vol.25: Thriller Professor/Mean Professor * Release Date: January 25, 1971 * Complete?: Yes * Cover Color: Gray * Extra Content: Mr. Iyami, "Chibita's Momimomi Story", "Oyome-san", "A Yojimbo-Like Person", "I Want to Try This", "Don't Do This Kind of Thing", "Shadow Clan", "A Day Like Today", "Let's See Anything", "Ashiato Story", "Big Extraordinary Company", "President Taran of the Jungle", "Do You Have Such a Thing?", "Telephone", "It's Autumn", "Bonfire", "Nonsense~", and "I'll Strike Back" * Character on Back Cover: Hagechibi (aka the Mean Professor) Nearly all of the one-shots reprinted in this collection had the art responsibility of Mitsutoshi Furuya. In the Shogakukan DVD-ROM digitization of this book, "Chibita's Momimomi Story" and "I'll Strike Back" are removed due to the redundancy of The Genius Bakabon's Old Man volumes also being digitized and containing those stories. Vol.26: We are 8 Pro * Release Date: March 25, 1971 * Complete?: Yes in the instance of the title feature, but "No" in the instances of some extra content * Cover Color: Light Blue * Extra Content: 1 chapter of Giant Mama, the Dayon-ojisan trilogy (Dayon-ojisan, Horahora-ojisan, and Ojisan no Obasan), "Deka and Chibi", 3 chapters of Circus Jinta, 1 chapter of Woodpecker Kanta, the Shonen Sunday pilot of The Great Stupid Detective Kogoro Hakuchi, and both chapters of Zurucho Has Come * Character on Back Cover: Dai-sensei (We are 8 Pro) Vols.27-28: I'm Violent Tetsu! * Release Dates: May 25, 1971 (volume 1), August 25, 1971 (volume 2) * Complete?: Yes * Cover Colors: Neon Red (volume 1), Hot Pink (volume 2) * Extra Content: Oh! Geba Geba, Geba Geba Brothers, and Dr. Geba Geba * Character on Back Cover: Fujio Akatsuka himself Vols.29-30: The Shinigami Death * Release Dates: December 10, 1971 (volume 1), March 28, 1972 (volume 2) * Complete?: Yes * Cover Colors: Gray (both volumes) * Extra Content: "The Vampire Domecula", The Baseball Family, The Popular Family, and "The Irritable Family" * Character on Back Cover: Death In the Shogakukan digitization for the DVD-ROM collection, "The Vampire Domecula" is not carried over for unknown reasons, but the other one-shots are still intact. This final release of the collection marked a departure from the cover layouts used for the first 28 volumes; there would be no "picture border" of Akatsuka characters mixed in, and the front illustration itself would take up the cover. Category:Fujio Akatsuka Category:Fujio Pro